Canstruction

Medicine Hat will be hosting its second annual CanStruction event in April, 2018 at Medicine Hat College.

CanStruction is a unique charity art exhibition and event featuring structures made by teams of volunteers. Structures are made entirely out of food items, generally canned foods. At the end of the exhibition, all food is donated to local food banks.

Winners of local CanStruction competitions are eligible to compete against one another in the CanStruction International Competition to win titles for the best structures.

CanStruction Medicine Hat and area is an annual competition. The event brings together teams to create extraordinary structures. The structures are judged, exhibited to the public and then de-CanStructed. All the food from the structures will be donated to the Medicine Hat and District Food Bank.

Who can join?Anyone can join, we ask that teams have a minimum of 5 individuals to enter the build. Teams could be a class, a service club, an organization, a group of friends, a business, a department or work group - almost anyone.

Only five people can handle the cans at any one time during the build (within the official competition 10’ x 10’ area) however more teammates are encouraged. People can change or hand-off to fresh team members throughout the build. We also suggest that you designate a team member to remove any of your team’s garbage, recycling, left over building materials and left over food items from your structure location. An unlimited number of people can be involved in the planning and fundraising.

How can I be involved?
There are a few ways that you may choose to be a part of CanStruction Medicine Hat.

Enter a team into the build

Sponsor a team - provide funding or fundraising support for their build (tax receipts for food items are available)

Mentorship - if you are a designer, architect, engineer or someone who is good with CADD, you may be able to volunteer your time to mentor a team and help them plan their build

Community member - come out and view the amazing CanStruction builds at the Medicine Hat College April 17-19, 2018.

Why CanStruction?
Food insecurity – the inadequate or insecure access to food due to financial constraints – is a serious public health problem in Canada. It negatively impacts physical, mental, and social health, and costs our healthcare system considerably.

Approximately 10% of our community uses the Medicine Hat and District Food Bank each year. 40% of those are children.

CanStruction is a fun way for communities to build fantastic, giant structures made from non-perishable food items and then donate all food used for the build to the Food Bank. Typically each build donates around 2,000 cans.

Canned foods are affordable and convenient. Cans seal out food borne pathogens & reduce food waste. Food banks can use these donations for several years.

Okay, I’m in. Now what?
Start building your team. Brainstorm some ideas (or get inspired…google “Canstruction” to see all kinds of cool designs, YouTube has many time-lapse videos as well!) Plan your design, builds can range from about 1,000 cans to 10,000 cans. Think about colour, size, and structural support (tip: stacking single cans 8 feet high will not work). Experiment. Create templates to assist with stacking. Pre-build difficult aspects prior to build day to ensure they work. Challenge yourself and have fun. You will amaze your friends and co workers (and you will be helping a great cause)!

Theme: This year our theme is Heroes and Villains. Build a structure that represents this theme to you. Beside each structure will be a sign describing your interpretation of the theme in your build.